103 F.

3d 121

NOTICE: Fourth Circuit Local Rule 36(c) states that citation

of unpublished dispositions is disfavored except for establishing
res judicata, estoppel, or the law of the case and requires
service of copies of cited unpublished dispositions of the Fourth
Circuit.
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Michael Anthony HALL, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 96-4407.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Submitted Nov. 21, 1996.
Decided Dec. 6, 1996.

Danny T. Ferguson, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Appellant.

Walter C. Holton, Jr., United States Attorney, Scott P. Mebane, Assistant
United States Attorney, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.
M.D.N.C.
AFFIRMED.
Before HALL, WILKINS, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:

Michael Anthony Hall appeals his conviction for bank fraud in violation of 18
U.S.C. 1344 (1994). Hall claims he was denied effective assistance of
counsel in that he felt pressured by his attorney to plead guilty. A claim of
ineffective assistance is not properly raised on direct appeal unless the record
discloses conclusively that defense counsel was ineffective. United States v.
Williams, 977 F.2d 866, 871 (4th Cir.1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 942 (1993).
Because the record does not conclusively disclose that Hall was denied
effective assistance of counsel, we will not address his ineffective assistance
claim. Rather, Hall may bring his claim in a habeas corpus proceeding under

28 U.S.C. 2255 (1994), amended by Antiterrorism and Effective Death

Penalty Act of 1996, Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214. To the extent that
Hall challenges the voluntariness of his guilty plea, our review of the record
reveals that such a claim is without merit.
2

Accordingly, we affirm Hall's conviction and sentence. We dispense with oral

argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in
the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional
process.

AFFIRMED.